


Schism

by The_Supervillains_Goatee



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman Beyond, Batman Beyond 2.0 (Comics), DC Animated Universe, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Mentions of war and death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-06-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 00:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3915730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Supervillains_Goatee/pseuds/The_Supervillains_Goatee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So why did “T” McGinnis join the Jokerz?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Schism: Stubborn

**Author's Note:**

> I found Justice Lord Batman's epiphany in the Justice League episode "A Better World" to be somewhat.....insincere.
> 
> Disclaimer: For fun only, not for profit, do now own, please do not sue.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So why did “T” McGinnis join the Jokerz? Why did Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson join the Justice Lords?

**January 20 th 2000**

Earth-50: Alexander J. Luthor is inaugurated President of the United States of America

**October 7 th 2000**

“The world and her people are mine -- and they'll live or die as I see fit!”

Bombing campaigns begin in the Middle East, China, and North Korea.

**November 1st 2001**

The first day Justice Lords imposed martial law. There will be no more war, ever, they had announced. Most of the world’s leaders have been deposed and the governments of the world are now being restructured to deliver food, shelter, medical care, education, and utilities to all its citizens and not just those with the wealth to buy it. New tax and economic policies as well as environmental and labor laws were being written and enacted. Most of the world’s citizens, approximately 99%, were surprisingly undisturbed by their loss of “freedom”. Most of the people Lois interviewed more or less shrugged and said they didn’t think their vote or opinion ever mattered anyway judging by the way the world was run. Most cheered and clapped when they saw the politicians rounded up and permanently jailed. Popular opinion was that they’d deserved it for all those decades of pandering to the lobbyists who donated to their campaigns instead of serving their constituents.

**November 1 st 2003**

Anti-poverty measures were also anti-crime measures. A populace who did not constantly fear becoming homeless and were provided socialized medicine and a food ration were typically not desperate for cash. The mentally ill were no longer sent to the revolving door facilities like Arkham. Incorrigible criminals were locked away permanently in the Phantom Zone after Superman lobotomized them. Substance abusers were rehabbed and assigned social workers and psychologists. Justice Lord Batman was out of a job. No crime in Gotham meant no reason for Batman to exist. No war meant there was no reason to offer defense contracts to Wayne Enterprises. Defense contracts kept Wayne Enterprises in business. “Brucie” Wayne’s playboy lifestyle had ended when the Justice Lords had imposed martial law and put an end to the old system of “haves” and “have nots”. The Cave and Batman’s gadgets were now funded by an allowance from the Justice League.

It was the perfect world where no child would ever see their parents murdered in front of them. It was the perfect world he’d dreamt of since he was eight years old and Justice Lord Bruce Wayne detested it. There were other worlds out there. He just had to find one that wasn’t a bloody peaceful, quiet meritocracy. A world where Batman didn’t have to come before the Justice League, hat in hand, begging for his allowance.

**November 2 nd 2003**

Justice Lord Batman surveyed the café. Some loudmouth was berating a waiter. The man’s stats began rolling across his cowl’s eye piece. Hmm, petty bully who likes freebies. His MO was to verbally abuse the waitstaff and claim they gave lousy service or served the wrong entrée in order to get his meal comped.  Looks like the jerk hit this restaurant once too often because the manager called in a noise complaint to the local police.

As the police drag loudmouth off on an ASBO, the other Bat sarcastically says, “Mom and dad would be so proud.”

Justice Lord Batman contrived to look outwardly shamed. He’d give it a few more hours before he had his “epiphany” and turned against Justice Lord Superman.

**November 3 rd 2003**

Justice Lord Batman surveyed his fellow Justice Lords. They were locked up tight in the cells he told them were built for their counterparts. Tricking the alternate reality dolts into locking them up had been almost easier than tricking the heroes of his own reality into building the prison and weapons that negated their powers. Things would be returned to the status quo. Soon, the people of Gotham would need Batman again. Soon, the governments of the world would need Wayne Enterprises to supply their armies with weapons and technology.

**April 25 th 2007**

Earth-12, The Amazons return from the realm of the Gods with a vengeance. Millions of mortals are slaughtered in Kansas, California, Washington, DC and around the world.

**August 29 th 2007**

Circe is banished to Hades for eternity. All the Amazons who participated in the Amazon Uprising have lost their powers and immortality and have had their memories wiped clean by the Gods. Only Diana is allowed to retain her memories and powers. But she, too, is now mortal. Hippolyta, the queen, has been sentenced to live out her days alone on an empty Themyscira. Justice Lord Batman drops by for a visit from Earth-50 and when he leaves a few weeks later, Wonder Woman goes with him.

**January 20 th 2013**

Mitt Romney is sworn in as President of the United States of America amongst accusations of voter intimidation, fraud, and gerrymandering. Social unrest has seized the world as the masses chafe under the heartless greed of the “Free Market Economy”. Protest marches turn into riots as police armed with military grade weapons enforce the Subversive Activities Control Act.

The Justice Lords break out of prison. Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, and Mister Miracle are killed by Wonder Woman at Justice Lord Batman’s behest. Aquaman and Atlantis throw in with Lord Superman. As do Justice Lady Diana and the Amazons of _her_ world. Bruce Wayne’s wealthy cronies are quick to surrender when their armies fall. Lord Batman and Wonder Woman retreat to Wayne Manor and spend the next couple of decades fighting a guerrilla war against the New Justice Lords. Any qualms Diana has against arming thugs to terrorize civilians are placated by Lord Batman and his promises of freedom and democracy.

**February 10 th 2022**

Orphanages have become a relic of bygone age now that there are no unplanned pregnancies. Cadmus labs, under the watchful eye of the Justice Lords, starts offering eligible infertile couples the means to have their own biological child. Mary and Warren McGinnis apply to have their first and only child.

**December 18 th 2023**

Terrel McGinnis is “born” from Cadmus’ baby hatchery. He’s a healthy 4.1 kilograms, 43.2 cm in length, and an Apgar score of 8. He has his mother Mary’s russet hair and his father Warren’s blue-grey eyes. When he’s brought home from the nursery, friends and family coo and say how much he looks like his mom and dad.

**December 18 th 2032**

The McGinnis family is walking home from Terry’s favorite restaurant after an evening celebrating his 8th birthday. They take a detour around some construction down an alley. Half way to the cab stand, a figure slides out of the shadows and aims their gun at the adult McGinnises. Mary screams as the Phantasm begins to pull the trigger. Suddenly another figure drops from the sky in front of them and the bullet ricochets harmlessly into a brick wall. The meta's flapping cape obscures his movement but in seconds the assailant has been disarmed and killed. Lord Superman summons the local police and victims support staff to tend to the McGinnis family and take their statements and to haul away Andrea Beaumont’s corpse. The next day the news feeds are full of Lord Batman’s minion’s latest act of terrorism.

**April 5 th 2043**

Terry McGinnis happily sits down next to his doppelgänger's father on a park bench and hands him a soy dog and a Zesti Cola and asks, “How did things go wrong between us? Do you know why Ter, I mean, why do you think  _I_ joined the Jokerz?”

“You never could stand hypocrites, Terrel.” Warren McGinnis answered. “I think that’s why you always detested authority and Lord Batman so much.”

“Batman’s nemesis.” Terry mused to himself. “I never would have predicted that happening.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Terrell (pronounced TER-əl or tə-REL), Probably derived from the Norman French nickname tirel "to pull" or "puller", a nickname for a stubborn person. It may sometimes be given in honour of civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954).


	2. Schism: Hunter/Untamed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Damian becomes Batman.

**Schism: Hunter/Untamed**

 

****

**September 5 th 1992**

 

Talia al Ghul gives birth to Damian Ibn al Xu'ffasch. He weighs a healthy 3.5 kilograms, is 41 cm in length, and has an Apgar score of 9. When he is presented to his grandfather by the doctor who delivered him, Ra’s examines him for imperfections and finds none...although his nannies find him to be a colicky and fractious infant.

 

**July 7 th 1998**

Princess Koriand'r leaves Earth. Dick is heartbroken but Bruce is relieved, “The thing about aliens, Dick, is that no matter how much they look like us they’re still aliens.

**January 20** ** th ** **2000**

 

Alexander J. Luthor is inaugurated President of the United States of America after a landslide election following the disastrous handling of the Gotham Cataclysm by the previous administration.  He promises to lead the country into a new age of scientific discovery and innovation.

Superman flies into space and spends a month punching rocks in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. When he comes back, Clark Kent writes a scathing editorial about term limits, campaign finance reform, voter apathy, and gerrymandering.

 

 **October 7** ** th ** **2000**

 

 _Neo_ Gotham is finally rebuilt and reopened by the federal government and Mayor Marion Grange presents President Luthor with the key to the city. The Wayne family is regretfully unable to attend the event.

**August 1st 2001**

Imperiex-Prime detects imperfections in the fabric of the universe and identifies Earth as the source and decides that to create a perfect universe he must first destroy the old one. Many other worlds are destroyed on his journey toward Earth and the survivors flee ahead of his destruction.

 

**August 23 rd 2002**

Talia al Ghul presents Bruce Wayne with their son, Damian. She tells him that Damian needs to be kept safe from Ra’s al Ghul. Bruce brings him home and introduces him to his older brothers. He manages to alienate all of them within two minutes of meeting them. Five minutes after that he tries to kill Timothy Drake. Despite his protests that if he were really trying to kill Tim he’d be dead, Damian is sent to his room to think about what he did.

 

**August 24 th 2002**

Harley Quinn and the Joker are found beheaded in a warehouse down by the West River docks.

Jason Todd invites Damian out for ice cream at Snowy Cones.

**November 1** ** st ** **2006**

 

The Coalition of Dead Worlds consisting of Almerac, Warworld, Apokolips, Kalanor, Karna, Daxam and numerous others arrive on Earth and join together with the Justice League to fight Imperiex-Prime. Darkseid is elected Commander of their joint forces.

 

 **November 2** ** nd ** **2006**

 

Imperiex-Prime arrives in the solar system and sends out Hollower probes. They begin burrowing into the Earth to start the planet’s demolition.

 

 **November 3** ** rd ** **2006**

 

President Luthor arranges for Doomsday to be brought out of the Phantom Zone. He’s brainwashed into seeing the Imperiex-probes as Superman. Doomsday manages to destroy several of them but Topeka, Kansas and seven other cities are obliterated. The destruction of his probes lures Imperiex-Prime to the planet where he’s attacked by Doomsday and the Coalition. He kills Doomsday and many others but is defeated by the combined powers of Superman and Strange Visitor and Darkseid.

 

 **November 10th** **2006**

A memorial service is held for the fallen Justice League heroes. Amongst the fallen are Nightwing, Superboy and Supergirl, Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl, and many other heroes. Batman’s surviving “Robins” refuse to speak to one another or even look at one another. Superman, Superboy II and Wonder Woman II plant themselves behind the three in case things turn violent and they need to be separated. Bruce Wayne gives Dick Grayson’s eulogy. He gives Jason and Tim a stiff nod at the end of the service and goes home to a cold and quiet Manor with Damian and Alfred.

**May 24 th 2009**

 

Tim Drake fails to clone Conner Kent for perhaps the twentieth time. Red Hood moves to Bludhaven and becomes Nightwing II.

Lex Luthor arranges a press conference to introduce his wife Alexandra and his 10 year old daughter Alexis to a surprised public. At the end of the Q&A portion of the meeting he pulls out a very ordinary looking Smith & Wesson loaded with Kryptonite bullets and shoots Clark Kent right between the eyes, killing him instantly.

 

**July 1st 2009**

The Flash museum has a break in and the cosmic treadmill technology is missing. Ray Palmer’s research at Ivy University is also stolen. Assassins attack S.T.A.R. Labs and raze it to the ground. Numerous scientists are killed and equipment is carried off in the attack. Roy Harper is maimed and killed that night in Star City by an unknown assailant.

**November 21 st 2009**

 

Tim Drake is brought before Ra’s al Ghul and is wined and dined in impressive style. Ra’s offers him more wealth than Bruce Wayne ever had if Tim agrees to become his protégé. Tim scoffs at the offer. Ra’s then offers him the power to protect more than just one city. And he also promises Tim the resurrection of his parents. Tim refuses again. Ra’s tells him that Damien is an adult and ready to take over Wayne Enterprises as CEO just as he’s taken Batman’s cowl. Tim is undismayed with the idea of an adult Damian Wayne shutting Tim out of crime fighting _and_ Wayne Enterprises. Ra’s offers Tim the resurrection of Kon-El and the power to run the world as he sees fit. Tim accepts. 

The sentencing phase of Lex Luthor’s trial is over and despite having a crack legal team and being generous with the bribes he’s sentenced to life with no possibility of parole. While awaiting transfer to federal prison, he tells Lois Lane, “Worth it.”

His wife is named CFO and CEO of Lex Corp.

 

**March 3 rd 2010**

 

The villain called Prometheus tries to gain access to the JLA satellite computer room. When caught by the on-duty Justice League members he reveals that he and the SSoSV1 have been behind the Flash Museum robbery and numerous other thefts and murders. In his attempt to escape justice, he detonates a bomb which kills most of the Arrow family and the Martian Manhunter and a dozen other League members. In a grief-stricken rage Donna Troy tackles Prometheus to the floor and pummels him to death. Chris Kent discovers a teleportation device planted under Metropolis made from the stolen time travel technology. He and the Flash and ferret out similar devices under the other heroes’ cities as well and they’re all disarmed without incident. When the dust settles, Donna Troy resigns as Wonder Woman II and takes the now orphaned Lian Harper back to Themyscira.

 

**July 7 th 2010 **

 

Batman is murdered on the streets of Gotham by killer or killers unknown. Before the coroner can remove his cowl and reveal his identity to the world, Amanda Waller and Task Force X sweep into the morgue and take custody of his corpse. Clues to his killer’s identity are few and far between. Every thug, crook, rogue, villain, scoundrel, knave, cheat, and scumbag low-life in Gotham (with the exception of Selena Kyle) claim credit for killing Batman. The police have no real evidence or leads but hundreds, if not thousands, of viable suspects.

 

**July 8 th 2010**

 

Every thug, crook, rogue, villain, scoundrel, knave, cheat, and low-life scumbag in Gotham who claimed to have killed Batman start dying in gruesome, bloody, and creative ways. The police are as baffled by these murders as they are Batman’s murder.

Lex Luthor dies of cancer likely caused by his kryptonite ring. He wills it to his daughter Alexis who has it made into a pendant necklace.

Bruce Wayne, idiot billionaire playboy philanthropist, is found dead in a brothel of natural causes.2 His family is shocked and saddened by his loss.

**November 12 th 2012**

 

Barack Obama is elected President of the United States for a second time.

Old Gotham City slums are razed and replaced with mixed income high rise condos. The land surrounding the newly restored Monarch Theatre is opened to the citizens of Neo Gotham as the Thomas & Martha Wayne Memorial Park. A modest and tasteful bronze sculpture of The World’s Finest is dedicated to the city’s masked protectors by Mayor Grange in the rose garden. In attendance, as their civilian alter egos of Chris Kent and Damian Wayne, are Superman II and Batman II.

 

**April 19 th 2013**

 

Ra’s al Ghul is deposed as the leader of the League of Assassins by his protégé. Tim Drake contacts Cadmus labs with tissue samples and an unlimited budget.

 

**August 13 th 2014**

 

A new Superboy appears in the skies above Earth. Superman II denies any relationship to the world’s newest “Last Kryptonian” in an interview with Tana Moon during an early edition of the Daily Planet’s newsfeed.

 

Tim Drake reads this to his young son Conal Drake-Wayne and then snorts, “Just like the original!”

 

 **January 10** ** th ** **2019**

 

Damian Wayne suffers a near fatal gunshot wound while rescuing Bunny Vreeland from a kidnapping ring. Instead of lowering himself to begging Drake for the use of the Lazarus Pits, he puts his recovery into the hands of the best doctors at Massac Memorial Hospital in Metropolis. He'll walk again with the help of a cane. While he's there he meets Lexie Luthor while she’s undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. The Kryptonite pendant she wore for years is conspicuously absent. They begin dating seriously.

 

Queen Koriand'r returns from Tamaran with her 20 year old daughter Mar'i Grayson in tow. A young Amazon in a scarlet cloak and boots arrives on the Justice League’s doorstep from Paradise Island with a quiver and bow. Two new heroines named Nightstar and Red Hood begin patrolling Bludhaven with Nightwing II.

 

Derek Powers, owner of Powers Technology, successfully merges his company with Wayne Enterprises.

 

 **February 10** ** th ** **2020**

 

Alexis Luthor loses her battle with cancer. Lexie is survived by her mother Alexandra, her cousin Lori, Lori's son Casey Rowan, and her fiancé Damian Wayne.

 

**March 1 st 2020**

Alfred Pennyworth dies peacefully in his sleep at home. His funeral is attended by Helena Kyle, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, Timothy Drake, Barbara Gordon, Kate Kane, Cassandra Cain, and Chris Kent.

 

**March 2 nd 2020**

 

Selina Kyle makes a death bed confession to her daughter Helena. Catwoman killed Batman. When her daughter demands, "Why? _Why_?" she's unable to give her daughter any satisfying answer before she passes away.

 

**March 3rd 2020**

 

Damian Wayne elopes with Mar'i Grayson. Polite society is scandalized by the incestuous nature of their relationship and how soon it came after Lexie Luthor’s death. The newlyweds move to Tamaran.

 

 **December 18** ** th ** **2023**

 

Orphanages have been replaced by in-family fostering or group homes. Adoption is only available to wealthy couples that can buy a baby from a foreign country through a private adoption lawyer. Cadmus labs begins offering the public reasonably priced infertility treatments. Mary and Warren McGinnis put down a deposit for their first child.

 

 **December 18** ** th ** **2024**

 

Theron McGinnis is delivered by Mary McGinnis in Gotham General Hospital at 8:34pm. He’s a healthy 4.1 kilograms, 43.2 cm in length, and an Apgar score of 8. He has a full head of black hair and his mother Mary’s dark grey eyes. When he’s brought home from the hospital, friends and family coo and say how much he looks like his mother Mary.

**October 8 th 2026**

 

Damian Wayne returns to Earth alone. Any questions put forth about his marriage or children by the press are answered with “no comment”.

Three hours later he’s bound hand and foot, drugged to the gills, and dumped into a Lazarus Pit by an unusually strong ninja that can fly. When he’s as healed as he can be, Damian is then unceremoniously dropped on the front lawn of Wayne Manor with a post-it note reading “You’re Welcome” stuck to his forehead.

 

**October 31st 2026**

 

2-Face-2 sprays a strange concoction made of Monster Serum and Joker Venom all over the streets of Neo Gotham. Gotham's citizens are transformed into a horde of slavering deranged Jokerized maniacs. The double-faced villain also kidnaps a toddler named Terry McGinnis and injects him with Joker Venom. Batman kills the villain and takes the child back to the bat cave for treatment and later returns him to his parents.

During the chaos a young immigrant couple and their 8 year old son are killed.  Their newborn daughter, Nissa, is found hidden in her brother’s bedroom closet. The detective assigned to the case finds it strange that a poor, creditless immigrant family would be killed by what looked to be a professional. He doesn’t bother to dig that deep because there were other more important cases to clear.

 

 **December 18** ** th ** **2032**

 

The McGinnis family is walking home from Terry’s favorite restaurant after an evening celebrating his 8th birthday. They take a detour down an alley around some construction. Half way to the cab stand, the Phantasm slides out of the shadows and aims her gun at Warren McGinnis. Mary flings her purse at the stranger threatening her husband and shoves Terry behind her. Suddenly a dark figure drops down from a nearby roof and tackles the killer to the ground. Mary and Warren grab their son and escape. Their assailant is quickly disarmed and killed by Batman II. Damian Wayne summons the local police to track down the McGinnis family for their statements and to haul away Andrea Beaumont’s corpse. He returns to the rooftop to retrieve the roses he dropped on his way to his grandparents’ memorial. On the way home he finds a litter of stray kittens and takes them home with him. The black and white tuxedo kitten is named Alfred.

 

**June 6 th 2033**

 

Damian Wayne discovers a box of un-digitized paper records dating to his father’s earliest days as Batman. In them he discovers Andrea Beaumont’s relationship to Bruce Wayne and her career as the Phantasm. From there he unravels her connection to the Suicide Squad and Amanda Waller, and from Amanda Waller to Cadmus, and from Cadmus to the motive behind the attack on the McGinnis family. For the first time in years, Damian Wayne calls his brothers.

 

 **June 7 th ** **2033**

The League of Assassins is dispatched to pay Amanda Waller and her cabal a visit to ensure there will be no more Project Beyond. Cadmus Labs is shuttered permanently and their test subjects are taken into custody by the Justice League.

Warren and Mary McGinnis receive job offers from Wayne-Powers. They pay significantly more than what they were making with their current employers and they are able to move their sons into a much larger apartment in a better neighborhood.

Barbara Gordon and her husband Sam Young adopt a young girl named Nissa.

 

**August 27 th 2040**

 

Harry Tully, a co-worker of Warren McGinnis passes a data disc to him before Mr Fixx can hustle him away. When confronted by Darek Powers he denies any knowledge of it. When he gets home Warren has an argument with his son Terry who later sneaks out to a club with his friends. When Terry comes home he finds his entire family murdered and the walls of their apartment scrawled with Jokerz graffiti.

For a moment a police detective working the crime scene thinks he sees Batman out of the corner of his eye. When he turns to look, nothing is there. A young reporter named Casey Rowan with the Daily Planet news feed interviews the neighbors but they give no relevant information regarding the case. 

**August 28 th 2040**

 

Derek Powers, Mr Fixx, and Jake Chill disappear without a trace.  

 

**August 29 th 2040**

That afternoon Terry McGinnis becomes Damian Wayne’s ward…and then that evening he steals the Batsuit and the Batmobile.

Jason clinks his glass of wine up against Tim's and Damian's and says, "Here's to tradition!" 

 

****May 16 th **2041**

 

Casey Rowan's sister Rosalie Rowan breaks out of juvie for the 10th time and elopes with a military synthoid called Zeta. Nightwing II retires and Red Hood takes on a pair of protégés. One of whom appears to be a shape-shifter. He calls himself Silver Tornado. Net sites devoted to superheroes speculate he's another Martian like M'gann M'orzz or a metahuman like Everyman. They are incorrect. The other calls herself _Ms_ Arsenal and is very good at stealing data, blowing things up or shooting them.

 

**March 2 nd 2042**

 

Terry asks “So what did happen to your son and daughter on Tamaran?”

The old man sighs, “You know the history of the Teen Titans? Specifically Koriand'r’s?”

“Super nice, super powerful alien Princess that had a crazy, murder-y sister named Blackfire. Dated your brother, Dick. Is the mom of Nightstar, who is your ex-wife.”

“Yes. There was also a brother named Darkfire who was also very good at killing. Kory, it seems, was a one off.”

“I don’t think I follow you.”

“Most of the Tamaran royal family was like Komand'r. Killing your siblings for the throne was not only legal under their law but encouraged. They believe it sorts out the weaklings and idiots. They would have gotten along admirably with my grandfather Ra’s.”

“Wow, that is not at all schway.”

“No, no it isn’t.” Damian pulled out his wallet and removed a couple of pictures, the old fashioned printed on paper kind, and stared at them a moment before passing one to Terry. “This is --  _was_ my son Thomas Grayson.”

“He looks like Matty did. Well, except for the green eyes.”

“Yes, he does look a lot like you and your brother.” Damian slid the other picture over to Terry. “Luand’r looked more like her Aunt Komand'r despite having the more human eyes.”

“I’m going to guess Lula also acted more like her Aunt rather than her Grammy."

Damian’s mouth curled up briefly at Terry’s nickname for his daughter. She would have hated it. "Yes, she did."

"Your son Thomas is dead, isn't he?”

"Yes, they both are now. Mar'i tried to claim it was an accident but the way she and Luand'r were acting I guessed they were lying immediately. When I examined his body the evidence told me what really happened.”

“Did you ever find out _why_?”

“The thing about aliens, Terry, is that how much they look different from us they’re still can be very, very human. It was sibling rivalry. Plain, old garden variety jealousy.”

“What did you do?”

“Do? No crime had been committed according to Tamaran law. My daughter felt no guilt or shame for what she did and chastising her certainly didn’t fill her with any remorse. The only thing I could do was either stay and accept it or I could leave.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone before me?”

“I thought I deserved it. I was a bad brother, a bad son. What Luand’r did, I tried to do myself and I was just as shameless. I thought this was my punishment. Having one child murder the other.”

“You know that’s not true, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you still miss them?”

“Yes, all the time. I don’t think you ever do stop missing them.”

“Does the pain ever get any better? Does it ever get better?”

“I don’t know. I don't think so. Perhaps it just gets more bearable than better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Secret Society of Super Villains
> 
> 2\. The same "natural causes" David Carradine died of ;). 
> 
> 3\. In American the meaning of the name Theron is: Untamed. The Greek meaning of the name Theron is: Hunter
> 
> 4\. Batgirl Beyond Nissa is the Beyond Universe's Helena The Huntress. She even resembles Helena Wayne a bit. And in the Batman Beyond comics it's implied that there were more genetic children created by Cadmus than Terry and Matt but Bruce's DNA proved too unmanageable so they tried cloning Dick Grayson instead.
> 
> 5\. The middle-aged version of Damian Wayne who appears in this story is based mainly from the ones depicted in the comics 'Kingdom Come' & 'The Kingdom', 'Batman: Son of the Demon', 'Batman in Bethlehem', and New 52 (post-Flashpoint) Earth-16.


	3. Schism: Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one were Terry dies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vicki Vale was Bruce Wayne’s girlfriend and “Lois Lane” in the Golden Age comics. She first appeared in ‘Batman #49 (Oct/Nov 1948)’ in a story entitled "Scoop of the Century!". Vicki always suspected Bruce was Batman but could never prove it or get him to confess it. She was dropped from the comics in the 1950’s but came back in ‘Batman Family Giant #11 (1977)’ as Vicki Vale-Powers and then disappeared again till the 80’s. No mention of her being married is ever made again because it was apparently forgotten by DC editors. 
> 
> Julie Madison first appeared in ‘Detective Comics #31(Sept 1939)’. She is Bruce Wayne’s first long term love interest. She was a trouble magnet socialite and actress who performed under the stage name “Portia Storme”. In the 2002 ‘Batman: Family’ miniseries she is pregnant and Bruce Wayne is suspected of being the father.

**December 17 th 1983**

Andrea Beaumont returns her engagement ring to Bruce Wayne and leaves Gotham without giving any reason for the end of their relationship. Bruce's heartbreak causes him to throw himself into his martial arts training.

**February 7 th 1984**

Bruce Wayne adopts a young orphan named Dick Grayson.

**_January 22 nd 1990_ **

_A villain calling himself Lord Chronos breaks into the watchtower to steal one of Batman’s utility belts. The theft is thwarted by Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Batman who then chase the time thief down a vortex into another era._

**December 25 th 1993**

A Phantasm is stalking Gotham’s mobsters.  Batman and Gotham City PD are always two steps behind the killer and the bodies are starting to pile up.

**January 5 th 1994**

The Gotham World Fairgrounds are burnt to the ground and the grim reaper stalking the Sionis, Sol, Valestra, and Bronski crime families disappears.

Andrea Beaumont is missing and presumed dead.

**September 20 th 1997**

Bruce Wayne adopts a young orphan named Tim Drake.

**October 3 rd 1998**

Dick Grayson moves to Blüdhaven. Nighwing begins patrolling the city's streets.

**March 16 th 1999**

A 7.6 earthquake levels most of Gotham. The government orders the city evacuated. Rescue efforts are slow going since the Justice League is ordered out of the city and most of the bridges and roads leading into the city are damaged.

**March 17 th 1999**

Gotham’s neighbors are less than thrilled with the refugees pouring into their cities from Gotham. The Federal government declares Gotham a “No Man’s Land” and shuts down the city’s borders and demolishes the remaining bridges. The military begins patrolling to ensure no one enters or leaves. Signs which used to welcome visitors to the city are replaced with signs declaring the area off limits and no longer part of the United States. The legality of this is debated by everyone. Jerimiah Arkham releases all the prisoners from Arkham Asylum and the rogues begin carving up the city into gang territories. The Justice League does not violate the President’s edict…however food, medicine, and tents are smuggled into Gotham while injured, hungry and homeless people are smuggled out by masked vigilante meta-humans whose physiques and powers seem extremely familiar to those who manage to spot them at their work.

**January 20 th 2000**

Alexander J. Luthor is inaugurated President of the United States of America after a landslide election following the disastrous handling of the Gotham Cataclysm by the previous administration.  He promises to lead the country into a new age of scientific discovery and innovation.

Superman flies into space and spends a month punching rocks in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. When he comes back, Clark Kent writes a scathing editorial about influence peddling, gerrymandering, and voter disenfranchisement in American politics.

**October 7 th 2000**

The federal government finally opens the city to the general public. Old Gotham City slums have been razed and replaced with luxury condos for the wealthy and Mayor Hamilton Hill presents President Luthor with the key to Neo-Gotham on the steps of city hall. Bruce Wayne can’t make it. He’s working on his tan in Hawaii. Batman _does_ put in an appearance. He’s spotted lurking on the roof above the ribbon cutting ceremony radiating rancor.

**December 12 th 2000**

Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne’s young ward is shipped off to a “boarding school” in Europe.  Barbara Gordon joins the Gotham City Police Department. Dick Grayson leaves town with a bullet in his spine and one less eye than he came with. Bruce Wayne goes home to a cold and empty Manor with Alfred.

**January 2 nd 2001**

Earth-50, Justice Lady Batwoman informs Justice Lord Batman she’s seven weeks pregnant. He congratulates her and Lord Nightwing. She informs him that she has only been dating Dick for three weeks. Later that evening when Lord Batman informs Lord Nightwing of the situation, Lord Nightwing beats the crap out of him.

**January 8 th 2001**

Earth-50, Barbara Gordon is rushed to a hospital hemorrhaging. She’s diagnosed as having an ectopic pregnancy and prepped for emergency surgery. Despite the doctors’ best efforts inspired by their terror of Lord Batman she will never have biological children. Lord Batman’s affection for her cools rapidly at the news.

**August 1 st 2001**

Imperiex-Prime detects imperfections in the fabric of the universe and identifies Earth as the source and decides that to create a perfect universe he must first destroy the old one. Many other worlds are destroyed on his journey toward Earth and the survivors flee ahead of his destruction.

**November 11 th 2001**

Batman exposes a plot by Lex Luthor to take control of Gotham by forging titles and deeds for real estate in the name of a shell corporation owned by Lex Corp. It’s also revealed that Lex also orchestrated the “No Man’s Land” debacle. The government declines to prosecute him.

In protest, Wayne Enterprises will no longer be taking R&D contracts from the U.S. government and encourages other powerful Gothamites to do the same. Brucie Wayne is largely ignored by the public. Nobody takes him seriously even when he is right.

**December 3 rd 2002**

Julie Madison, an ex-girlfriend of Bruce Wayne jokes to Vicki Vale, another ex-girlfriend of Bruce Wayne, that she’s pregnant and going to name the kid “Bruce Wayne Junior”. It’s a slow news week so Vicki runs with the story in the Gotham Globe.

**December 5 th 2002**

Julie Madison has received several thousand death threats since Vicki’s article about the impending "Wayne Heir" hit the newsstands and Gotham PD (and Batman) have foiled a couple of dozen kidnapping plots. Julie issues a statement to the throngs of paparazzi outside Wayne Manor that ‘no’ she is not carrying billionaire Bruce Wayne’s child. She boards a plane out of the country and never looks back.  It’s rumored she’s gone to Africa with the Peace Corps.

**November 1 st 2003**

The Justice Lords arrive on Earth-12 and offer their help to the Justice League in building a utopic society like their own.

By the end of the day Justice Lord Batman is surveying the Justice League in the cells carefully designed to negate their superpowers. Tricking the alternate reality dolts into the cells had been as easy as tricking his fellow Justice Lords into building them.

Justice Lord Nightwing is shocked and hurt by Lord Batman's betrayal. It goes against everything the man he called 'Dad' raised him to believe in. Dick Grayson storms out of the Batcave forever.

**November 10 th 2003**

Bruce Wayne surveys a Gotham café. A familiar loudmouth was berating a waiter. He was shrieking that he was served the wrong entrée and that, despite consuming all of it, the food was terrible and cold! The manager gets called over who grovels while the jerk demands the waiter be fired because the service was lousy and slow. The waiter snaps and tells the loudmouth he’s just a cheap fool and the manager dismisses him. Bruce feels uneasy but squelches the feeling. The Justice Lords’ world was wrong. There were better ways to achieve peace and civility. Democracy was always better than dictatorship.

On Earth, Clark Kent publishes a report about food insecurity and malnutrition. Congress votes to defund SNAP benefits.

**November 1 st 2006**

The Coalition of Dead Worlds consisting of Almerac, Warworld, Apokolips, Kalanor, Karna, Daxam and numerous others arrive on Earth and join together with the Justice League to fight Imperiex-Prime. Darkseid is elected Commander of their joint forces.

The unemployment rate in Gotham hits a five year high, foreclosure filings are up 42% from the previous year, and the social services budget experiences severe cuts. As the poverty rate increases so does the crime rate.

**November 2 nd 2006**

Imperiex-Prime arrives in the solar system and sends out Hollower probes. They begin burrowing into the Earth to start the planet’s demolition.

**November 3 rd 2006**

President Luthor arranges for Doomsday to be brought out of the Phantom Zone. He’s brainwashed into seeing the Imperiex-probes as Superman. Doomsday manages to destroy several of them but Topeka, Kansas and seven other cities are obliterated. The destruction of his probes lures Imperiex-Prime to the planet where he’s attacked by Doomsday and the Coalition. He kills Doomsday and many others but is defeated by the combined forces of Superman and Strange Visitor and Darkseid.

**November 10 th 2006**

A memorial service is held for the fallen Justice League heroes. Amongst the fallen are Strange Visitor and General Sam Lane and Maxima and Katar Hol. Several other heroes are missing and presumed dead. The Atlanteans took heavy losses including Prince Garth, Prince AJ, Prince Koryak, Orm Marius, Lady Tula, and many other members of the Atlantean royal family. Atlantis declares the date a national day of mourning.

**April 25th 2007**

The Amazons return from the realm of the Gods with a vengeance. Millions of mortals are slaughtered in Kansas, California, Washington, DC and around the world. Darkstar and Wonder Girl are executed as traitors when they try to protect civilians from their sister Amazons' fury.

**August 29th 2007**

Circe is banished to Hades for eternity. All the Amazons who participated in the Amazon Uprising have lost their powers and immortality and have had their memories wiped clean by the Gods. Only Diana is allowed to retain her memories and powers. But she, too, is now mortal. Hippolyta, the queen, has been sentenced to live out her days alone on an empty Themyscira. Justice Lord Batman drops by for a visit from Earth-50 and when he leaves a few weeks later, Wonder Woman goes with him.

**August 30 th 2007**

Lex Luthor is impeached. Batman never stopped investigating him after his Gotham real estate scam was uncovered. It is revealed to the public that Lex had the power to prevent the destruction caused by the Imperiex-probes and did not act on it so that he could look like a strong and courageous leader during the war.

The Pew Foundation publishes an article about wage stagnation. American workers’ wages have been flat or falling for decades when adjusted for inflation.

**September 4 th 2008**

Shayera Hol gives birth to her second son, Rex Stewart. John Stewart and her other son Hector Hall and foster daughter Kendra Saunders all crowd around her hospital bed cooing over the latest edition to the Hawk-Lantern Family.

**July 1st 2009**

The Flash museum has a break in and the cosmic treadmill technology is missing. Ray Palmer’s research at Ivy University is also stolen. Assassins attack S.T.A.R. Labs and raze it to the ground. Numerous scientists are killed and equipment is carried off in the attack.

**March 3rd 2010**

The villain called Prometheus gains access to the JLA satellite. He’s caught by the on-duty Justice League members in the computer room. In his attempt to escape justice, he detonates a bomb which injures and kills dozens of League members and civilians who had been invited for a tour of the facility. Martian Manhunter manages to subdue him. Prometheus and the Injustice Gang are behind the Flash Museum robbery and numerous other thefts and murders in a scheme to destroy the Justice League and everything they stand for. During his interrogation he reveals that he planted teleportation devices in the home cities of various heroes which will leave them marooned at various point in the past and future. In exchange for his release he’s willing to tell them when and where the “time bombs” will go off.

The Justice League stalls for time as Superman and the other surviving heroes search for Prometheus’ devices.

**March 4 th 2010**

Star City is leveled. Prometheus’ device failed to transport the city to the far past or far present but it did cause wide spread destruction. Millions are dead including the Green Arrow’s grandchildren.

The Justice League caves and makes the plea deal with Prometheus. The rest of the time teleportation devices are deactivated.

**April 15 th 2010**

The clean-up and burial detail of the Star City disaster is finished. Prometheus is pottering about his lair putting the finishing touches on the plans for his _next_ anti-Justice League plot when Oliver Queen puts an arrow between his eyes.

**September 17 th 2011**

The Occupy Wall Street movement begins in Zuccotti Park in New York City’s financial district. It quickly spreads across the country.

**January 20th 2013**

Earth-50, Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson break Superman and the Justice Lords break out of prison. They, along with a horde of irate “Have-Not” citizens, quickly subdue Bruce Wayne’s oligarch friends. Lord Batman and Wonder Woman retreat to Wayne Manor and spend the next couple of decades fighting a losing war against the New Justice Lords. Any qualms Diana has with siding against the poor and angry masses are quelled by Lord Batman with promises of freedom and democracy.

Green Lantern Rex Stewart, Lord Hawkman, Lord Martian Manhunter, and Justice Lord Miracle disappear. Batman claims they left earth because they do not wish to become embroiled in human politics any longer.

The Green Lantern ring finds a new bearer, Kyle Rayner, and Justice Lady Hawkwoman publicly accuses Lord Batman of doing away with his former allies. Nothing is ever proven but no trace of the missing Justice Lords is ever found.

**April 11 th 2015**

Earth-12, Ra’s al Ghul “dies”. The League of Assassins is taken over by his daughter Talia.

Wally West becomes one with the Speed Force.

Lex Luthor is finally going to prison. Despite having a crack legal team and being generous with the bribes he’s actually going to see the inside of a jail cell. Not as long as he deserves but still a victory for The World’s Finest.

 

**January 10 th 2019**

Batman suffers a near fatal heart attack while rescuing Bunny Vreeland from a kidnapping ring.

Derek Powers, owner of Powers Technology, successfully buys out Wayne Enterprises in a hostile takeover.

**June 8 th 2019**

Barbara Gordon becomes Commissioner of Gotham PD.

**February 10 th 2021**

Earth-12, Cadmus labs begins offering free medical care to the lower income citizens of Gotham. Warren and Mary fill out an application and a lengthy questionnaire and are approved after an interview with a “social worker” named Amanda Waller.

Darek Powers is named CEO of Wayne-Powers Industries.

Bruce Wayne retires from public life. He is barely able to stand let alone walk without a cane. Any questions put forth about his health status is met with “no comment”. The tabloids speculate his long history of debauchery has finally caught up with him.

**April 14 th 2021**

Warren drops by Cadmus for a routine physical exam and gets his yearly flu vaccine.

**December 18 th 2022**

Terrence McGinnis is delivered by Mary McGinnis in Gotham General Hospital at 8:34pm. He’s a healthy 4.1 kilograms, 43.2 cm in length, and an Apgar score of 8. He has a full head of black hair and his mother Mary’s dark grey eyes. When he’s brought home from the hospital, friends and family coo and say how much he looks like his mother Mary.

Andrea Beaumont is quite taken with this particular candidate. Perhaps it’s the fact his mother is a red head like herself or his resemblance to Bruce, but Terry is shaping up to be one of her favorites. She requests to be his handler. Amanda Waller has always been good at judging people’s weak points agrees with reservations.

**October 12 th 2026**

Lois Lane dies of cancer. Superman leaves Metropolis and goes into semi-retirement.

**October 31 st 2026**

2-Face-2 creates a strange concoction made of Monster Serum and Joker Venom. Neo Gotham PD gets an anonymous tip to where he’s storing the chemicals for this mad scheme. When they raid the warehouse they find him and his goons very, very dead.

That same night a young immigrant couple and their 8 year old son are killed in Crown Pointe.  Their newborn daughter, Nissa, is found hidden in her brother’s bedroom closet. The detective assigned to the case finds their deaths odd. Instead of being killed by a random maniac it almost seems as if the family was killed by what looked to be a professional. He doesn’t bother that long with the case since they were poor and Crown Pointe is a lousy neighborhood. Family friends take charge of the baby and the case is immediately shunted into the cold case department.

**March 29 th 2032**

Earth-50, Orphanages have become a relic of bygone age now that there are no unplanned pregnancies. Cadmus labs, under the watchful eye of the Justice Lords, has offered eligible infertile couples the means to have a child of their own for several years now. Justice Lord Nightwing and his wife are moved to the top of the waiting list and are soon expecting their first child.

 

**December 18 th 2032**

Earth-12, The McGinnis family is walking home from Terry’s favorite restaurant after an evening celebrating his 8th birthday. They take a detour down an alley around some construction. Half way to the cab stand, the Phantasm slides out of the shadows and points her gun at Warren and Mary McGinnis. As she’s about to pull the trigger, Andrea Beaumont hesitates and then turns and runs away. That evening she breaks into Wayne Manor and confesses everything to Bruce and gives him all the files on _Project: Beyond_. She tells him of her “rehabilitation” with Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad.

**December 18 th 2032**

Bruce Wayne limps down the steps of the Batcave to the Batcomputer and turns it on for the first time in years. He spends the day hacking into the computers of Cadmus Labs, Task Force X, and the Department of Extranormal Operations. By the end of the day he knows a great deal about Batman’s replacements.

**December 19 th 2032**

Bruce Wayne’s limo is parked at the curb by a park in a “transitional” neighborhood. The windows are tinted so no one sees an elderly man watching a young boy playing on the jungle gym with his friends.

That evening a message is sent to Amanda Waller and a lot of documents are shredded and Cadmus Labs more radical experiments get moved to another more secure location.

**January 3 rd 2033**

Earth-50, John Robin Grayson-Gordon is “born” in a Cadmus’ baby hatchery. He’s a healthy 3.9 kilograms, 41.5 cm in length, and an Apgar score of 9. He has his father Dick’s dark hair and eyes and his mother Barbara’s smile. When he’s brought home from the nursery, friends and family coo and say how adorable he is. Justice Lord Superman attends his christening with Justice Lady Diana Prince.

**June 7th 2033**

Warren McGinnis applies for a job at Wayne-Powers. The modest pay raise is enough to afford a small apartment in a better school district.

**October 9 th 2034**

Lex Luthor is let out on parole.

**July 25 th 2035**

Warren and Mary have had fifth serious fight that week. They’re loud enough to wake baby Matthew up and make him cry. Terry takes him into his room and shuts the door and prays that his parents stop arguing soon.

**February 14 th 2036**

Mary and Warren McGinnis spend the day avoiding each other and their apartment. Terry sneaks out the fire escape with Matty to play at a park. There he meets Charlie Bigelow and his gang. They ask him to stand watch while they shoplift beer from a local store. Terry swipes some diapers because Matt is almost out and it looks like his parents won’t be home any time soon.

**February 23 rd 2036**

Mary and Warren McGinnis tell their son they’re getting a divorce and Dad is moving out. That evening Terry climbs out his window and joins up with Bigtime’s gang for an evening of car theft. He takes Matt with him because his mother is working overtime and he doesn’t want to leave him alone in the apartment.

**March 26 th 2037**

Terrence McGinnis is hauled into Juvenile Court. He’s sentenced to reform school and public service and required to attend family counseling with his parents. Gotham’s courts are usually more punitive with gangbangers but before the Judge could deliver his original sentence he’s told there’s a call in his chambers he has to take. When he comes back he gives the lad a stern talking to and sends Terry off with a court advocate. Amanda Waller snorts and hangs up the phone. She didn’t even want to consider the trouble Gotham would be in if Lil’ Matches had been let loose on the world after being hardened by _real_ prison.

**August 27th 2040**

Harry Tully, a co-worker of Warren McGinnis passes a data disc to him before Mr Fixx can hustle him away. When confronted by Wayne-Powers security guards he denies any knowledge of it. When he gets home Warren has an argument with his son Terry who later sneaks out to a club with Dana Tan. An elderly woman bribes some Jokerz to go to the same club and stir some shit up. They get a bonus for chasing this twip up into the hills outside the city. They mutter to themselves they should get hazard pay for the beating they take from the old geezer. Checkmate agents surveilling the McGinnis’ apartment are withdrawn from their post when Mr Fixx arrives with Jack Chill. When Terry finally comes home he finds his apartment building surrounded by cop cars and police and his father has been murdered. The walls of their home is scrawled with Jokerz graffiti.

Casey Rowan with the Daily Planet news feed interviews the neighbors but they give no relevant information regarding the case although one spitefully says ‘That boy of his was always a bad kid. Mark my words it’s probably his fault.’

**August 28th 2040**

Terry McGinnis breaks into Wayne Manor and steals the Batsuit. The next day Bruce Wayne drops by his apartment and makes him an offer he can’t refuse.

**May 1 st 2041**

Terry McGinnis has his first martial arts class with Kairi Tanaga.

**November 16 th 2041**

Neo-Gotham’s citizens are rioting. With the assistance of Neo Batgirl, Commissioner Gordon has uncovered a plot by the Roak Corporation to poison food and water of the poor in Crown Pointe in an effort to cleanse the city of undesirables.

 

**_March 22 nd 2042_ **

_Unemployed former professor David Clinton gets into an argument with his wife Enid and travels back in time to 1879 to Elkhorn, Oklahoma._

_Unemployed former professor David Clinton gets into an argument with his wife Enid and travels back in time to 1754 to Fort Duquesne…_

_Unemployed former professor David Clinton gets into an argument with his wife Enid and travels back in time to 89 AD to the Forum Romanum…_

_Unemployed former professor David Clinton gets into an argument with his wife Enid and travels back in time to 145 BC to Alexandria, Egypt…_

**March 23 rd 2042**

The other Batman from the past was wrong. The new timeline created by “Lord Chronos” didn’t cease to happen like he assumed it would. The historic landmarks disappeared but Terry McGinnis was still dead.  

**April 4 th 2042**

Dick Grayson is abducted from his apartment in Blüdhaven. Barbara Gordon disappears from her home in the suburbs and Tim Drake’s yacht is found drifting derelict by the Metro-Narrows bridge. A woman posing as a social worker comes to Matt McGinnis’ school and produces documents stating she’s to take custody of him. Mary McGinnis reports him missing to GCPD when he fails to return home at the end of the school day.

**April 5 th 2042**

Bruce Wayne is brought before “Talia” al Ghul and is wined and dined in impressive style. She offers him the power to protect more than just one city. She offers him the wealth to truly change the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people. She offers him the resurrection of Terry…for a price. As proof of her “good” intentions, "Talia" presents him with his old Bat-Family. Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin all had a nice long soak in a Lazarus Pit.

Bruce agrees to the deal provided some conditions are met first.

**April 6 th 2042**

Andrea Beaumont is arrested by the Neo Gotham Police Department and Matt McGinnis is returned to his mother.

**September 2 nd 2042**

Terry McGinnis is starting college after making a miraculous recovery from the injuries he sustained during what the press has dubbed the ‘Chronic Cataclysm’. He was listed as a 'john doe' at a local area hospital for several weeks until he woke from his coma. His mother and brother were thrilled to have him back. They were starting to worry they’d never see him again. Dick Grayson is taking up Terry's training where Bruce left off.

Barbara Gordon and Tim Drake call their families and tell them not to worry they just had to leave town for an emergency and they’d be back in a week. When they do return home they look like their old selves but they have a new spring in their step and more energy than before.

Elderly socialite, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist Bruce Wayne passes away while overseas. He leaves most of his vast fortune to the Wayne Foundation and his son Tim Drake-Wayne and his “grandson” John Robin Grayson-Wayne. His protégés Terry and Matt McGinnis and their mother, Mary, are all bequeathed valuable properties and a very nice sum of money in a trust fund. All his Wayne Enterprises stock is left to a long lost son named Madison Wayne who immediately announces a share repurchase plan for all of Wayne Enterprise's outstanding stock. He plans on removing the company from the market and making it privately owned once more. The press goes nuts over the new “Prince of Gotham”. Everyone remarks on how he’s the spitting image of his father in his prime.

**August 6 th 2043**

9,453 Jokerz disappear off the face of the earth. So do a lot of other unrepentant, dangerous criminals. The Phantom Zone had plenty of room for all of them.

Superman peers at Bruce over his spectacles. They're real now that he's gotten older. “So how do I know you’re really who you say you are?”

“Besides the checks and pass codes and tests I put in place for just such a scenario that I’ve already passed?”  Bruce sipped his coffee. “Well, if I were Ra’s, all the Jokerz would be dead.”

“How did you trick the old demon?”

“I didn’t. His machine malfunctioned and killed him. As far as the League of Assassins knows I’m Ra’s al Ghul.”

“Speaking of which…what do you plan on doing with them?”

“Covert aide missions. Instead of smuggling opium out of Afghanistan they’ll now be smuggling medicine and educational materials in.”

“And they’re not the least bit suspicious about Ra’s change of heart?”

“They’re not good at questioning orders. When ‘The Perfect Specimen’ tells them to jump the only thing they ask is ‘how high?’”

“Speaking of perfect specimens…How long will it last? Will it wear off like Barbara or Tim?”

“Dick and I chose to stay in long enough to reset the clock. I now have enough time to see Terry and Matt grow up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terrence (TER-ənts ) – “Terrence is a variation of Terence, the English version of the Old Roman family name Terentius which is of uncertain origin possibly Teres (smooth) or Terere (wear out/wear down). Some have speculated that it may have been a Latin development borrowed from an ancient Aramaic word meaning ‘heart’. It is also considered an anglicized form of the Old Irish Toirdhealbhach, from the Gaelic ‘toirdhealbh’ which means ‘prompting’. Toirdhealbhach would have been an ancient Irish nickname given to a person who was an ‘instigator’ type.”  
> *Batman Beyond 2.0 #26-29, has more info about why the Bat-Family broke up after Tim Drake was kidnapped by the Joker and Harley Quinn but suffer from severe continuity issues. Neo-Gotham and the rest of the country are on the brink of civil war.


	4. Coming Soon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As of New 52: Futures End #46, Terry McGinnis is dead...again.
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own, not making any profit, please don't sue.

This was only going to be three chapters long, but as of ' _New 52 Futures End #48_ ' Tim Drake is the Batman Beyond of Prime Earth. I thought this warranted an extra chapter which is coming soon. 

 

TELOS ( _Convergence #0 - The God Machine_ ): "CITIZENS OF MY WORLD! I have brought this **_Convergence_ ** upon you. Now is the time. The hour is near. Judgement is here. Only one city shall survive, only the strong. Since your arrival, I have been the air that you breathe--the water you drink. I am the very ground you walk upon. I am your starless sky. I am the world. I am Telos. I have tended to your every need. But now, the domes will fall--and champions must rise. Never have the powerful among you been more necessary, for I you are about to partake in the greatest experiment of all. Your time has ended. Your worlds are dead. But I have the power to grant one city a future. Some of you came to me at a time of **_Infinite Crisis_**. Others were brought here in the final moments of their **_Zero Hour_**. Whether it was a **_Flashpoint_** for a time that never was-- or of **_Kingdoms_** that will never **_Come_**...everyone here was granted life as a result of my dominion. THAT CHANGES NOW. Today your captivity turns to competition. And only one city among many will survive this day! Defenders of each domain will battle the other, and only the greatest heroes will live! Deny me--your people will be destroyed. Disobey me--your cities will be crushed by me hand! Dare to circumvent these conflicts in any way...and the citizens will pay the price. There is no room to make common cause among you, no quarter given. Only one city will survive this day--all other worlds will finally know the dark embrace of oblivion!"

 

The DC Multiverse has been destroyed and remade on a wide scale during multiple events which is roughly divided into in three eras: Before _Crisis of Infinite Earths_  (1985) aka The Gold/Silver/Bronze Ages, before _Zero Hour: Crisis In Time_  in 1994, and After _Flashpoint_  (2011) aka "The New 52". _Kingdom Come_ was an "Elseworlds" story from 1996.

 

 **Earth-10  (The New 52)** Nazi Justice League

 **Earth-Five (pre-Crisis)** Martha and Thomas Wayne Don’t Die

 **Earth-Eight (post-Crisis)** Thinly disguisedMarvel Characters of Earth-616

 **Earth-16 (pre-flashpoint)** Young Justice Cartoon

 **Earth-16 (The New 52)** The offspring of the Justice League are adults

 **Earth-50 (The New 52)** Justice Lords

 **Earth-162 (pre-Crisis)** Superman Red, Superman Blue

 **Earth-387 (pre-Crisis)** The Human Race is Werewolves

 **Earth-462 (pre-Crisis)** Live Action DC TV shows of the 1960’s & 70’s

 **Earth-12 (The New 52)** Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond

 **Prime Earth/Earth-0 (The New 52)** Brother Eye Conquers The World

 **Earth-???  (The New 52)** _InJustice: Gods Among Us_ Video Game  & Comic 

**Author's Note:**

> All of DCAU and DC comics including, Justice League Beyond, Batman of Bethlehem, Amazons Attack!, Superman & Batman, and Action Comics trolled for material. 
> 
> Lex Luthor actually does say “Metropolis and her people are mine -- and they'll live or die as I see fit!” in the comics at one point.


End file.
